This past November, the Council on Health Care Economics and Policy at Heller hosted the 32nd Princeton Conference in Boston. The conference commenced on November 5 with a keynote address from Dr. John McDonough of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who touched upon topics from his forthcoming book, America’s Wrong Turn: U.S. Healthcare in the Neoliberal Era. Sessions throughout the weekend touched on some of the most significant issues facing the U.S. health care system, including affordability, the public health infrastructure, Medicare, Medicaid, employer-sponsored health insurance, and the future of the healthcare delivery system. This year’s title of “Navigating Uncertainty” is what health care leaders are confronting each day.
Amid rising costs and high levels of uncertainty, there are examples of policies and programs that are working. These include efforts to direct more funding to primary care, increased adoption of hospital-at-home programs, successful quality and cost results from truly integrated care delivery systems, and growing use of AI to improve clinical decision making and health care efficiency. While views of the current administration’s policies differed, there was agreement on the importance of evidence-based analyses and solutions, along with creative policy ideas.
The annual Princeton Conference is under the leadership of Stuart Altman, Professor Emeritus at Heller. Since starting in 1994, the conferences have served as national platforms for health policy experts to present and debate key issues. These discussions have led to multiple publications over the past two decades that have helped shape health policy policies and regulation in the United States.
"For over 30 years Stuart Altman had convinced some of the top minds in health care to analyze and address some of the most pressing health care issues of the day and this conference was no exception,” said Council director Michael Doonan, who gave closing remarks on November 7. “With rising health care costs and issues of affordability, the work of the Council and the Princeton Conference has never been so important."